Shereef Akeel, 48, of Rochester Hills works in his Troy law office, Monday, May 6, 2013. He has devoted much of the past nine years to representing Abu Ghraib detainees.

Written by

After nearly a decade of chasing justice for abuses committed at Abu Ghraib prison, a Troy lawyer and his colleagues face a pivotal hearing Friday that could decide whether their Iraqi clients ever see the inside of an American courtroom.

Since 2004, Shereef Akeel has been fighting to compensate detainees for the emotional, physical and sexual abuses alleged at the notorious Iraqi prison at the hands of American personnel following the invasion the previous year. To do so, he has invoked a 1789 law that allows violations of international law to be heard by U.S. judges and juries.